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Flagstaff, AZ — (Sunday, October 29, 2017) Under the cover of darkness, while pre-halloween revelers were meandering through the cold streets of Flagstaff, some stealthy folx scaled the tower crane above the monstrous “Hub” development and dropped a massive banner depicting a KKK figure hanging and the words, “GENTRIFY IN HELL.”

This crane has been ominously hovering over our streets for long enough, so we figured it to be the ideal space to address how white supremacy & capitalism are driving forces of gentrification. But we also want to make sure this message goes beyond the impacts of the shitty Hub project that has been forced down our throats (by unrestrained greed at Northern Arizona University (NAU) & spineless politicians). We don’t really concern ourselves with “preserving the character of Flagstaff,” because we see Flagstaff as more than a “gentrifying” process in the larger historical context of genocide, land theft, and desecration of sacred places. Colonialism, capitalism, white supremacy, and hetero-patriarchy are the roots of Flagstaff and the US as a whole. We care about what’s happening to the poor, the unsheltered, the Indigenous, and other People of Color more than we do about “the character” of this little mountain settlement. While some may say this is a “criminal act,” what is truly criminal is how corporations, businesses, media outlets, and politicians/fascists, perpetuate and benefit from furthering dehumanization and the violations against poor, Indigenous, migrant, Black, and queer bodies every single day.
From the fascist attack on Maktoob to victim blaming Daily Sun articles and local ordinances that continue to dehumanize and criminalize the unsheltered community. From Snowbowl desecration of the sacred Peaks, to forced relocation on Black Mesa, to desecration of South Mountain by Loop 202, NAU, Arizona State University, & University of Arizona desecration of Mt. Graham, uranium mine desecration of Red Butte, to the ongoing Trump administration attacks on sacred indigenous lands and national monuments for the benefit of extractive industry, the intersections of these issues are intersections we must continue to fight like our lives depend on it, because they do.

Hanging from a tower crane is the only “platform” any fascist should have.